Northumberland: Ancient Lindisfarne, Modern Newcastle With L.J.Ross

The north-east of England combines the ancient history of Viking raids and English castles, with the stark beauty of Lindisfarne island cut off by the tides, and the vibrant city of Newcastle linked by its seven bridges. In today’s episode, mystery author, LJ Ross talks about love of home, why she sets her books in the area, and tips for visiting. LJ Ross is the internationally bestselling author of the DCI Ryan mystery series set in the north east of England including UK number one bestseller, Holy Island. * Why Louise feels that Northumberland will always be home, even as she and her family travel away and back again. The emotional resonance of where we have memory and family. * Are there geographic personalities? On the possible differences between the north and south of England * Lindisfarne, the Holy Island, and tips for visiting so you don’t get stranded by the tide as well as nearby Bamburgh Castle * Cragside and Victorian history * The city of Newcastle, seven bridges and the Victorian tunnels * How Louise is entwining her international travels into the upcoming Dr Alexander Gregory series, whose work as a psychological profiler takes him around the world * Recommended books set in Northumberland You can find Louise at www.LJRossAuthor.com and on Twitter @ljross_author Lindisfarne, Holy Island features in my travel memoir/solo walking book, Pilgrimage: Lessons Learned from Solo Walking Three Ancient Ways. Transcription of interview with LJ Ross LJ Ross is the internationally bestselling author of the DCI Ryan mystery series set in the north east of England including UK number one bestseller Holy Island. Hello Louise. It’s so good to have you on the show. First of all, tell us a bit more about you and your exciting geographic history because you’ve tried a lot of places, haven’t you? [LJ Ross] I haven’t done too badly! I was born and grew up in Northumberland so I was there until I was 18 and then I went off to university in London and I was down in London on and off for about 12 years. I also did just under a year in Paris and then I did a few months in Florence as well so I hopped, skipped and jumped a little bit and throughout that time my family had actually relocated to Cornwall for about eight years as well so while I was in London I then got to vicariously explore Cornwall. I have a younger sister who’s twelve years younger as well so I would get back quite frequently and see them. So that was quite nice as well to get out of the city during that period. And we travel quite a lot. My then partner, now husband, James and I, we traveled quite a bit during that time before we had a son. And then after London, after Ethan was born, I think both of us having been brought up in the country, we’d enjoyed our time in London, but we were coming to a point where we needed to smell the fresh air again. So we moved outside and took a tentative step outside of London to Hertfordshire because at that time James still needed to get back into London for work. We were there for about a year and then we moved over to Bath, which is where we met actually. We loved our time in Bath, it’s a very beautiful city. We were there just under two years. Then we came back around full circle and we wound our way back up to Northumberland now which is where I’m speaking to you from. [Jo Frances] I wanted to talk to you partly because of this idea of traveling out from home, and you’ve basically returned home after so long. Do you now see Northumberland as home?