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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Dark clouds over a Peak District valley in summer (watercolour) #painting #artists #landscape #Derbyshire

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

A cottage in the beautiful mountains of north Wales - so peaceful! (watercolour) #painting #watercolour #art #Wales

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 21/07/2026

Scotland in the sunshine (acrylic sketch). I did this quickly, to try and capture the light #art #painting #artists #scotland

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

A sunny June day in the Isle of Man - coastal rocks adorned with assorted lichens, moss and grassy tufts (acrylics) #painting #artists #seaside #nature

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

It's been a beautiful day here in Derbyshire. Clearly these lupins love the sunshine - and the bees love their pollen 🐝 #gardening #flowers #nature #bees

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

A mountain tarn this April, high in the Lake District (watercolour). If you enjoy a bit of solitude, this is the place for you 🎨 #painting #art #Lakes #Cumbria

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Yet another trip to the Lake District. It's so beautiful at any time of the year - no wonder Wordsworth loved it💗 #Lakes #Cumbria #painting #art #mountains #poetry

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 22/03/2026

We've had plenty of rain in Derbyshire lately, so I took a break from writing to paint a watery landscape #art #painting #watercolours

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Some historical thrillers I've written in the past, as Elizabeth Redfern (Be warned!They're dark!) #writing #writer #historical #thrillers #author

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 07/02/2026

I've just sent my latest historical ms to my lovely agent - and I'm doing a bit of painting while waiting for 'the verdict'. Trouble is, I find that painting can be just as strenuous as writing... 😮‍💨🧑‍🎨📝 #historical #Regency #painting #writing

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 29/11/2025

Another recent photo of the beautiful Yorkshire dales. I love the way the sun catches the distant hills.

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 11/11/2025

Yesterday I took a break from writing my latest Regency adventure, and did a bit of painting in the Derbyshire countryside (watercolour)

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 11/10/2025

I've just spent a week in the Yorkshire Dales, to take a break from writing my latest. It's so beautiful there - and quiet! (don't tell anyone 🤫)

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 25/09/2025

This is my watercolour sketch of a hellebore - I love their delicacy

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 14/09/2025

Just a few roses have survived the recent heavy rain. Here's a pink beauty

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 05/09/2025

Storm clouds gathering over a Norfolk estuary (watercolour)

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

Whatever else you think about 2025 - it's been a good year for the roses. Love this beauty

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 06/07/2025

Lovely little lake high above Chatsworth, Derbyshire. Ideal for dreaming up my next story - or just dreaming 😎 🖊️

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

It's been a lovely day so I've not done any writing. Instead, I pottered around the garden and watched a blackbird splashing in the bird bath. (I suppose there should be flowers, but maybe it hardly needs them? 🌺)

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 04/06/2025

Right - my latest book has been sent to my editor 🤞so I've been indulging in a watercolour dabble again. This time it's a (fairly imaginative) depiction of my favourite castle of all, the former coastal Viking stronghold of Peel, in the Isle of Man

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 28/05/2025

Yet another fascinating castle, Bodiam, in Sussex. It was built in the fourteenth century when a French invasion was feared, and its superstitious stonemasons carved ritual protection marks into its doorways and windows, hoping to guard it against supernatural forces also.

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 24/05/2025

For Regency romance fans - I was writing up revisions to my latest WIP, when I noticed that an earlier book of mine, The Master of Calverley Hall (Harlequin), is on kindle unlimited in the U.S. #writing #authors #historical #fiction #romance #heroes #enemiestolovers #strongheroines #Regency

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 16/05/2025

A coastal scene on a hot day (acrylics) 🎨 'And the gentle winds and waters near Make music to the lonely ear' (Byron: It Is The Hour)

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 13/05/2025

Gorgeous weather here in Derbyshire, so I've been strolling and sketching. AND... I'm nearly through the revisions to my latest book (reminder to self - Don't alter too much! Don't dig plot holes!) 🙄🎨📝

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Reposted by Lucy Ashford

Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Saw an article recently asking why novels these days are sad and depressing. Well, I guess it depends on what you choose to read (and review. And pick for top prizes.) Me, I like happy endings with romance and humour along the way. Which leads me to my latest, out in April, US and UK.

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 17/04/2025

Yesterday I put aside my writer's pen and got out my watercolours instead. Here's Bradda Head in the Isle of Man, the site of ancient copper and lead mines. (Looks a little like Poldark's Cornwall, do you think?) 🎨😍

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 14/04/2025

This reminds me of those bad writing moments, when you realise there's a huge hole in your plotline and you'll have to do a hell of a lot of work to get it right. 😧🗑️✏️ Anyone else??

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Whenever I come across an old country track like this one in Cumbria, I'm reminded of Kipling's poem about the ghosts that haunt a long-forgotten path. It's short, it's called 'The Way Through The Woods' - and it's a gem.

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 04/04/2025

Another castle I love, Kenilworth. It's both the setting and the title of a historical novel by Sir Walter Scott, about the Earl of Leicester's dangerous ambition to marry Queen Elizabeth I. Scott was a huge admirer of Jane Austen. But while his popularity as a writer has faded, hers has endured.

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Fellow writers - isn't it the best feeling in the world when you're struggling with a plot glitch in your novel, and the solution suddenly decides to show up? (As if to say, 'Hey, I've been here all the time...') 🪄😲

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Reposted by Lucy Ashford

Patrick Monahan @pattymo.com · 21/03/2025

Okay it may seem bad that Meta appropriated the entirety of the written word without compensating or even consulting with any writers, but consider what the world got out of it: a thing you accidentally tap in Instagram

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 24/03/2025

Trees at Chatsworth a few days ago. How I love them! As for revisions to the latest wip, I note that my editor advises me to dismiss some annoying minor characters. I am doing so with pleasure. Only wish I could do the same in real life... 🫢🖊️

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 21/03/2025

With red pen and coffee close at hand, I'm about to start revisions - and to ponder how best to convey my hero and heroine's past before their all-important meet-up. (Reminder to self - do NOT indulge in the dreaded info-dump 😟🧩) #writing #historical #fiction #writing #romance #regency #writers

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 19/03/2025

The last - really the last of my Lake District posts! Then I must settle down to the business of editing my latest book (aided by super-helpful comments from my editor). This is Loughrigg Tarn. It's fascinating how these mountain pools attract tales about mermaids, faery folk and dark goings-on🧜‍♀️🧜‍♀️

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

The Lake District, a few days ago. I'd love to live there and write or paint all day. Good news about Hugh Walpole, author of the Herries Chronicles set in long-ago Cumbria. There is a Hugh Walpole society, on bluesky. I must read those books again...

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 17/03/2025

Here's the Lake District, looking as beautiful as ever on a recent trip. Writers and readers - does anyone remember 'The Herries Chronicles', by Hugh Walpole? They are marvellous fictional recreations of life in Cumbria 200 years ago

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

Yet another castle to inspire any writer of historical novels - wonderful Bamburgh in Northumberland. Last time I was there the weather was wild, but perhaps appropriate for a fortification battled over by Celts, Saxons and Normans.

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 12/03/2025

I've just completed a piece about dialogue in romantic fiction, and I'd love to know what my hero is thinking here. Probably:- 'I knew I was in for trouble the moment I saw her...' (Out in the UK and North America, April) #Regency #Romance #Historical #Writing

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 11/03/2025

This little scene reminded me of a poem by Anne Bronte, called 'Memory' - 'One little flower - a primrose fair, Just opening into sight' #poetry #flowers #writing #gardens

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 08/03/2025

Last week, as I was about to give a talk to a book group, one woman announced, 'I am not interested in happy endings.' Right. No Jane Austen, then? None of Shakespeare's comedies? Okay, of course I wouldn't dream of comparing myself with either. But it's her loss. #romance #JaneAusten #writing

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 06/03/2025

I love the poetry quotes appearing here. One of my own all-time favourites is Keats' 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci.' It's mysterious, beautiful and haunting. What has happened to the knight? Who is the lady, 'the faery's child', who has him in thrall? Exquisite poem.

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 03/03/2025

A tree in Chatsworth Park yesterday. My photo doesn't do it justice, but it was beautiful.

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 28/02/2025

I've just sent in my latest novel to my editor, and I'm always nervous about her reply. So I've been painting instead (acrylics this time).

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 26/02/2025

Love Kit Marlowe. To me, the final speech of Faustus is comparable to Shakespeare at his best; likewise the dungeon scene at the end of Edward II (saw Joseph Fiennes in the role. Audience in tears).

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 23/02/2025

Another castle - what an atmosphere this painting has

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

I'm writing the final scene of my latest WIP, which is a humorous historical romance. The vital question is - has our dashing hero grovelled enough to the heroine for his errors? Hmm, just about. This lady certainly thinks so.

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

Viking at Largs:- On the subject of Vikings, I spotted this spectacular one last October, in Largs on the beautiful west coast of Scotland. The seagull on his head looks undaunted

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Lucy Ashford @lucyashford.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

OK, I admit I could wander around castles for hours. In fact I often do. Here is a photo I took of Peel Castle in the Isle of Man, built to overlook the Irish Sea by Vikings

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