Hello, I'm Joan Moules and for this website I have my writers hat on.
I write fiction and non-fiction books, short stories, articles, monologues…
My books are available in bookshops, on amazon, from publishers Robert Hale and in public libraries.
If everyone has sold out (I should be so lucky!) and you want to buy one then please email me as I have copies of most of them.
Five Stop Story Competition
Joan's entry, 'A Subtle Betrayal', in the August 2011 Five Stop Story Competition [so named because they can be read in five stops on the London Underground] can be read on their website fivestopstory.com
Turn of the Tide: Published 29th July 2011
Joan Moules latest book, TURN OF THE TIDE, is her twentieth.
It is set on the south coast of England and tells a riveting story of a tangled web of love, hard work and ambition.
Four people tossed together by the hand of fate, whose loves and lives are turned upside down in this exciting and tense story.
Joan, who lives in Selsey with her husband, Leon and two cats, has been writing books since 1979. Before that she wrote short stories and articles. She still does this, "It is good to work on some short stories inbetween the books," she says. "I love short stories, I enjoy the discipline of writing them - although it is still fiction you go into a completely different mode of thought for short stories and it is a very satisfying form to work in."
Writing on www.suite 101, journalist and writer Sylvia Kent of The Society of Women Writers' and Journalists says of Joan's work, "Moules is one of my favourite modern authors. Many aspiring writers have learned much about the business via her popular writing courses in Selsey, Chichester and Earnley in Sussex. She is also an entertaining speaker with a wide range of topics She delivers talks on the Music Hall, Fifties Favourites, the life of Marie Lloyd and Gracie Fields as well as the craft of writing."
Joan is a founder member of the Warminster Writers' Circle (now its President), and founder and current chairman of The Selsey Writers' Circle.
A member of both the Society of Authors and The Crime Writers' Association her books range in genre from romance to crime.
I enjoy writing them all but I do like to change genre from time to time, she says.
At the moment she is working on her second who-dun-it which features Inspector John Carding and Sergeant George Binns, the pair who appeared in her book, SCRIPT FOR MURDER in 2009.
Last year saw the publication of FRAGILE MEMORIES, a mystery romance set around a manor house in Wiltshire and her latest novel, TURN OF THE TIDE came out on July 29th this year.
Published by Robert Hale Joan's books are available from Waterstones, and all good bookshops and from public libraries.
Recent Books by Joan Moules with ISBN Numbers
TURN OF THE TIDE (2011) ISBN 978-0-7090-9249-0
FRAGILE MEMORIES.(2010) ISBN. 978-0-7090-9058-8.
SCRIPT FOR MURDER(2009) ISBN 978-0-7090-8808-0.
TIN HATS AND GAS MASKS.(2007) ISBN 978-0-7090-8235-4
IT'S ONE OF OURS (2007) ISBN 978-0-7090-8362-7
THE STRAW HALTER(2007) ISBN 978-0-7090-8276-7
A few reviews and readers' letters I liked.
Turn of the Tide
Reviewed in 'The Woman Writer' (30 November 2011) by Jacqueline Addison-Brown
In this tear-drenched novel one woman is desperate for a child; another woman is desperate for money.
Anonymous surrogacy is the answer for both of them and once they have won over their reluctant husbands they manage to fulfil their dreams.
Maureen gets the newborn baby she has so longed for and ambitious Katie is able to leave her cramped rented flat and start climbing the property ladder.
But both marriages suffer from this extreme solution to their problems.
Katie embarks on an affair and has a love child, and Maureen's neglected husband also embarks on a fling.
However, the presence of a precious child in each marriage is a powerful reason for both couples to try to save their precarious marriages and, against the odds, they manage to stay with their partners.
But many years later unforeseen coincidences conspire to undo this hard-won contentment and past errors of judgment have a devastating effect on the happiness of both their grown-up children.
This novel packs a memorable emotional punch and forces the reader to consider what he or she might do faced with similar circumstances, viz. childlessness and poverty.
We might be critical of the protagonists' choices but we are compelled to sympathise with their individual predicaments.
And anyone who has ever had a child will recognise how forcefully parental love can affect the dynamics of marriage.
Joan Moules writes convincingly about ordinary people caught up in extraordinary situations, whilst her compassion for her characters rarely becomes over-sentimental.
She has a clear-eyed view of human foibles and moral dilemmas, giving the reader much food for thought.
Fragile Memories
Reading Fragile Memories you sense at once that you are in the company of a fine novelist, a sensitive observer of human nature whose characters are believable, their hopes and dreams sure to involve you in an uplifting story.
Joan Moules, with her emotive and descriptive writing style, is adept at taking a classic plot line and adding a fresh twist.
It's One of Ours is an engaging wartime saga written with plenty of warmth, wit, grit and heart. Joan M. Moules has a lovely writing style which immediately draws you into her story and once you read the first page of It's One of Ours, you'll find yourself unable to stop!
Script For Murder
Congratulations on a remarkable first book in the crime genre.
A first book in a new genre written by someone who is a true professional with words and plots.
Joan Moules has created the atmosphere of the times brilliantly and with so few props.
She doesn't rely on anything that would have to be explained to a modern-day reader.
There are a grand bunch of characters and the book moves at a fast pace.
A great read.
Recommended.
I really enjoyed Script For Murder.
I did not guess who dunnit - although the clues were there when I looked
I hope we shall see more of Inspector Carding.
I really liked him.
I loved the way the two detectives worked together and thoroughly enjoyed the setting too.
Felt I was there in Fairbourne with them all. I didn't guess who the murderer was, very, very well worked out.
The Straw Halter
This is a moving story set around a custom that was quite common in the 18th and 19th centuries. Divorce was difficult enough for the aristocracy and virtually impossible for the ordinary people. To solve this problem, unwanted wives were sold in the marketplace with a straw halter around their necks. The same practice was the theme of Thomas Hardy's classic novel "The Mayor of Casterbridge". I enjoyed the book very much. The plot moved at a good pace, the final outcome was never obvious and the characters were well drawn. Recommended.
Tin Hats and Gas Masks
I have just finished reading Tin Hats and Gas Masks and enjoyed it very much – what a lovely story, Congratulations.
I'm now looking forward to your next one.
Have just spent a wondrous day reading Tin Hats and Gas Masks.
I so enjoyed it. It's a lovely story and I learnt something too.
I had no idea that the people who took in evacuees were paid to do it.
Particularly liked the difference between the two upbringings; the child who has everything, but little love from her mother, and the child who has nothing except a strong bond with his parents.
I know who is the richer.
Many thanks for giving me such an enjoyable day.
Have just read your book Tin Hats and Gas Masks.
I got it from our library and I'm so glad I did because I enjoyed it very much.
You have worked out your theme so cleverly that it is difficult to put the book down: the reader always needs to know what is going to happen next.
I do hope there will be another book soon so I can order that when the time comes.
Have just finished reading Tin Hats and Gas Masks and am writing to say how very much I enjoyed it.
The characters grew on me and as the story unfolded I was drawn into their world.
I was sorry the book had to end, especially as a new character, Aunt Bessie, had been introduced.
A very enjoyable book.