One random, violent act is enough to change Sarah Macintyre's life forever.
Left unsettled, and yearning for a new beginning, Sarah is unsure of what to do with her life. But one day she discovers an anonymous letter hidden amidst a pile of unopened mail.
The note, however, contains nothing more than a confusing riddle.
Intrigued and excited, Sarah’s hunger for a new life compels her to search for the author to understand the puzzle and solve the mystery.
Embarking on a journey that will shape the rest of her life and that of her family, Sarah uncovers a past of which she had no knowledge, a present she must find a path through, and a future filled with intense grief and utmost joy.
Reunion by R V Biggs is book two in the Sarah Macintyre series. As part of the #RandomThingsTours Blog Tour, I am delighted to welcome author R V Biggs here to Random Things today.
He's sharing Ten Things About Me with us.
Ten Things About author R V Biggs
How did I meet my wife? I advertised.
Being a shy child – and shy adult – in my early thirties I was stuck in a rut
and somewhat at a loss as to how to meet a possible future partner. Back in
those days lonely hearts clubs were few and far between and they didn’t appeal…
or maybe they horrified me! I’d already placed an advert in the local newspaper
twice before and at least made a good friend on one occasion. However, it was
third time lucky because my future wife was waiting around… both our lives
needed to be at the same crossroads at the same point in time. Readers of my
work will have picked up my passion for that which we call destiny, and the way
we met and then re-met (there’s a story trigger for someone) only confirmed my
beliefs.
Living the dream. A central location
in my writing is Scotland, a country that my wife and I have spent twenty years
exploring on numerous holidays. So great was our passion for all things
Scottish that we upped sticks and went to live there in a traditional two up,
two down crofting cottage. It lasted almost a year. It was the great
experiment, the attempt at getting a more sedate and peaceful life. Ultimately
it was the wrong place and the wrong time and with a heavy heart, for me at
least, we moved back to the great metropolis that is the west midlands. Always
wanting to live in the country, the only way I could manage it was to bring my
passion and dreams alive for my fictional characters. They do say you should
write about what you know. Well I hope I’ve managed to capture my love for the
countryside within my narrative.
Favourites. People are often asked
about their favourite ‘things’ so here are a few of mine.
Favourite film. It has to be Signs by
M Knight Shyamalan. Mentioned in the guest post of my choice along this blog tour,
It has wonderful themes of destiny… things happen that were always meant to
happen and in this case in a heart-breaking but joyful way.
Favourite music. Classical these days
and though the choices are vast it has to be The Lark Ascending by Vaughn Williams.
The piece is quintessentially English, reminiscent of long summer days during
even longer school holidays. The solo violin depicts perfectly the rising and
falling endless music of that spring time song-master the Skylark.
Favourite foreign holiday destination.
Got to be Greece. Corfu is a gorgeous lush green country and I’ve stayed in Arillas
twice, but the most favourite location for my wife and I would have to be
Zakynthos. This was our first foreign holiday together. The day we arrived, we
unpacked, changed and headed for the bar and sat drinking and talking with no interruptions
from children. I recall with disbelief that we had a whole two weeks of just
the two of us under the Grecian sun.
Work. 35 years, would you belief it,
35 years working for British Telecom. Where did that go? But I needed a change
ten years back. I landed a job with Birmingham Children’s hospital helping to
support… with data and information, the young person’s mental health services.
Ultimately more rewarding that when I left BT since the telecoms industry had become
more cutthroat and demanding. However I carried some ‘special’ skills across to
the NHS, or maybe I should say special humour. Sometimes when I attended a
meeting when still with BT, I liked to liven things up during the round of introductions.
When everyone else had given their name and a quick description of their role, I’d
just say ‘My name is Rob Biggs and I’m an alcoholic’. The first time did it at
BT I got a round of laughter. The first time in the NHS was in the company of a
group of senior Consultant Psychiatrists and mental health professionals. I
don’t think anyone understood the humour but the word got back to the senior management
team who still tell the story with shaking heads.
Family. I have four children, though
I should say step-children. When I met my wife, one thing that she made clear
in her letter to my ‘lonely hearts’ column advert was that she had children and
they were part of the ‘package’. For obvious reasons she needed that fact to be
fully understood. Well I’d figured that the chances were whoever I would meet would
already have a family, so it was never really an issue… it was what it was…
another indication of my acceptance of destiny or maybe a philosophical viewpoint
I inherited from my father. When I first met the youngest daughter, she grinned
at me (almost four years old) and insisted on having a kiss. She hasn’t changed
except she now towers over me. But my wife has always bemoaned the fact that my
two daughters and I have a dad and daughter club to which she isn’t a member. It’s
true and humour figures very much in these clubs which are as individual as my
daughters. The two sons lean more towards their mom (mum) than towards me but
maybe that’s how it often is with families… little pockets with a larger circle
to contain everyone.
Hobbies. Photography is a pastime
that interests me but I have little time to engage. I most often use my SLR
when on holidays but as these are few I never become proficient at it. I have a
computer full of images taken of wildlife, seashore, landscape or family that
never see the light of day. Amongst the masses are just a handful of shots that
capture a moment with perfection. What I want is to have these occasions to
become more the norm. Perhaps retirement will help.
Writing. A recent addition… well in
the last ten years at least. This passion came from nowhere, just a random
dream formed from one line in a favourite
song. I never hand any inclination to become an author but the power it has
upon one’s thoughts is remarkable. Almost every waking moment… when one has
peace to allow it, is taken over by this self-conceived dream world where heroines
and heroes can lead you anywhere… even to places you never intended until the
words are laid out.
Well, there we are. Thanks for
reading. I hope you’ve found some of this interesting and maybe a little
entertaining.
R V Biggs lives in a small ex-mining village near
Wolverhampton, England, with his wife Julie, andMags the black lab. He has
four grown up children and six grandchildren.
Walking with the dog is a favorite pastime and much of the
story line for his first novel was developed during these lengthy outings.
Robert worked for 35 years in telecommunications but changed
career paths to a managerial supporting role within a local Mental Health NHS
trust. It was during the period between these roles that the concept for Song
of the Robin was born.
Robert is a firm believer that destiny and co-incidence
exist hand in hand and this conviction extends to his writing. He has a passion
for holistic well-being and after first-hand experience of the potential
healing powers of Reiki, a form of energy therapy, took a Reiki level 1
training course to heighten his spiritual awareness. Robert’s experiences in
these areas helped conceive the ideas that led to Song of the Robin and its
sequel Reunion, novels with central themes of fate, love and the strength of
family. His writing however is not fantasy but is set in modern times involving
real people living real lives.
Twitter @RVBiggs
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