Angela Mumford

Hi, my pen name is Ange Hilstron.
I was born in 1929, the year of the Wall Street crash when our well off family became destitute. I grew up during the Great Depression and World War Two in London, and attended a private school in Worcester Park. I worked for British American Tobacco Co in Westminster as a shorthand typist and sent myself to Wimbledon College of Art.
After marriage and the birth of our daughter we immigrated to New Zealand in 1960, where I became involved in community work, taught art in a primary school, and exhibited my paintings. Two sons and a divorce later, I helped pioneer the Feminist movement in NZ, bought a house and carved a hillside garden out of volcanic rock! I founded my own company to fund my installation in the Botanic Gardens to celebrate artesian water, pioneered art as a special subject in primary schools and gained a Batchelor of Arts degree in human lifespan cognitive development, and aesthetic perception.
When my sons married I decided to return to UK in 1995 to live in Dorset near my daughter and grandchildren. I joined the Women’s Institute, became active in the community, was Artist in Residence at a local school making a millennial mosaic pavement and created a cottage garden out of a strip of grass. I joined a community group making a celebration tapestry and helped create a community garden in a retirement complex.
During my life I have had several major surgeries, but just after returning to UK I discovered I had breast cancer.
I kept a journal most of my life, keeping folders of my experiences and ideas. When I reached the age of 89 I thought I should publish some of it.
I chose Author House as my self publisher and spent 2019 just before my 90th birthday writing my first book Any Excuse for a Party, the Story of my Life. The Rag Doll series came from my experiences with having a stroke, heart failure and another mastectomy, and the comedy of dealing with the medical fraternity and surreal situations. I expect that people would gain some hope from them as well as have an enjoyable read. They are all available through Amazon and book shops on line.
 
My website: angehilstron.com
 
My books at Author House (in £)
 

Laura Lyndhurst

I was born and grew up in North London, England, but was unable to attend university when young due to family financial circumstances. Instead, I worked at various occupations, including dental nurse, laboratory assistant and shop assistant. I married just before I was 20, and travelled to some interesting places around the world, including Egypt and Cyprus, following my husband’s career. I spent much time reading, a passion, but in order to keep further occupied I took office jobs when these were available to me; I hated the work, but the money was useful.
When we were back in the UK I took evening classes at various times and gained ‘A’ levels in Psychology, Sociology and English, eventually settling in Kent with my husband and becoming a mature student and gaining Bachelor's and Master's degrees in English and Literature before training and working as a teacher.
In 2016 we moved to the peace and quiet of rural Lincolnshire, and my sporadic writing activies became more permanent. I self-published 'Fairytales Don't Come True', my debut novel, in May 2020. In this work, aimed at the Literary Fiction market, I wanted to highlight the growing issue of students (mainly female) funding their studies through arranged sexual relationships with rich, older, men and how they can get in over their heads. Here Mags, who lived such a life, recounts her life story to Dora, a nurse with a very different lifestyle but her own issues.
Since then, I have written and published two books of poetry, 'October Poems' and 'Thanksgiving Poems & Prose Pieces'. I have also just published, in January 2021, a a sequel to 'Fairytales' entitled 'Degenerate, Regenerate'. I have a psychological suspense story, 'You Know What You Did' ready for publication, and a third book in progress to make a trilogy with 'Fairytales' and 'Degenerate'.
I usually go for a long walk each day (weather permitting; I’m a fair-weather walker) in the beautiful countryside around us, and exercise for a couple of hours each morning, including use of a hula-hoop and stepping machine. I love food and drink and have spent half my life battling a weight problem. I managed to lose 5 stone of unfortunately-gained weight two years ago and am determined to NEVER regain it! So every other day is a diet day (for hubby too), but when not being careful we enjoy a good meal with wine; going out to eat is something which I enjoy.
For other leisure activities I have taught myself to play the recorder; badly, but it keeps the brain cells ticking over. I also listen to music of many types; Tracy Chapman is playing while I write this, and will later be replaced by Leonard Cohen or Katie Melua or any one of dozens of other artists, or by some classical music or opera, another passion. And of course there’s reading, something which I have loved since I was a child. I’m just about to subscribe to the Kindle Unlimited programme, because although I love physical books, my bookcases are groaning under the weight and I don’t have room for any more.
Please find Laura’s books, on Amazon:
Please follow Laura on;
Please read her blog on Goodreads, as above,
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Laura-Lyndhurst-355512115558230/?view_public_for=355512115558230
https://www.facebook.com/laura.lyndhurst.