This week I’m delighted to welcome to my blog fellow author Jill Todd to talk about her latest book Avalon Sky.
Jill Todd was born in Hampshire, and returned to live there with her husband and son in 2000. Her parents taught her to read and write very young, to occupy her during a long illness, and she has been writing stories ever since – although mainly as a hobby while working full-time. Her first contemporary novel was Echo of Bells, a romance thriller published in 2016.
Having retired in 2023, she now has time to do a lot more writing. Her new novel, Avalon Sky, is the first in a planned series of crime thrillers features Kit and Lissa, her main characters from Echo of Bells.
In 2000, Jill’s husband and four fellow pilots won a microlight aircraft kit in a magazine competition. The build took three years, and the little plane became part of the family – which inspired one aspect of the plot of Avalon Sky. Holidays in Somerset and on Lundy Island supplied more material, and the island is one of her favourite places.
Jill, thank you for dropping by today to chat about Avalon Sky, a great read. Before we start, can I interest you in a drink and a cake – this week we have cinnamon buns. Would you like a tea or a coffee? Or something cold?
Hi Anni. Thank you so much for inviting me! Yes please, I’d love a coffee (white, no sugar) – and a cinnamon bun sounds wonderful. I haven’t had one of those for ages.
Avalon Sky is a crime novel and I’m going to have to be a bit careful with my questions as I don’t want to give too much away. I really enjoyed reading it, but I was always going to love books with planes and historical secrets and I did, I was hooked from the first page.
Following a private tragedy, TV historian Kit Pevensey and his wife Lissa seek respite in the quiet of rural Somerset to compile a village history for a friend.
But when their friend vanishes without a trace, the Pevenseys’ research stirs memories of dangerous secrets. Amid the deceptive peace of the Somerset Levels and Lundy Island, a killer plans the perfect murder – and Kit must face his own demons, whilst battling to prevent the crimes of the past from tearing a family apart.
The first thing I have to ask you is about the competition that led to your husband being a plane owner. What was it? What did he win? Did you learn to fly? Was it a Jabiru? Did he ever fly you to Lundy? What were some of your memorable trips? Is he still entering competitions?
Ah, that was very much a one-off. We only do pub quizzes these days. The competition in Flyer Magazine ran in 2000, with one question per month for a year. At the time my husband (Pete) and four friends owned an ageing little motor-glider. They all entered the competition, and one of his friends won the kit – then very kindly shared his prize. They built the Jabiru in another syndicate member’s garage, and the tiny aircraft took to the air three years later. I’ve flown with Pete many times, as a nervous passenger, but these days I’m rarely light enough. In Avalon Sky, Kit and Ben manage to stay inside the punitive weight limit because they’re both … shall we say, more athletically built than I am?
The cockpit photo of Pete and me shows how small the interior is. Any bags need to be squashed into spaces around the fuel tank behind our seats. (By the way, I’m not flying the aircraft; the pilot sits in the left-hand seat.) The other pic is from a trip which Pete made some years ago with our son Mark, seen here in the tent.
Our Jabiru, with various pilots, has toured England and Scotland but has never landed on Lundy. It’s technically feasible but does carry a risk, hence Ben’s reluctance in the book. The grass runway is very rough, with humps. One of our current syndicate members once flew a different Jabiru to the island and broke the nose-leg. Lesson learned.
This is the second Lissa and Kit book and follows on from Echo of Bells, which also dealt with family histories and secrets. Are you a genealogist? Have you investigated your own family tree? I love genealogy, but I was always told you haven’t done it thoroughly until you’ve found a criminal in the family. Have you found a criminal/any interesting characters yet?
As a child I was enthralled by my grandmother’s stories, which inevitably included a lost family fortune and a Spanish sailor from the Armada. I keep meaning to do the research, but what really fascinates me is that a long-ago pirate captain shared my unusual maiden name (Todd is my married name) and became the self-styled King of Lundy Island. How marvellous it would be, to discover that I’m descended from the Pirate King of Lundy!
This is set in a lovely part of the world, the Somerset Levels. I recognised a lot of the places around Netherzoy, but the village itself seems to be fictional. How do you decide on which real locations to include in a novel and which you need to create?
You’re right, Netherzoy is my invention, along with Sedgemoor Aerodrome and other properties belonging to my fictional Naylor family. They own so much of Netherzoy, I couldn’t use a real village for fear of accidentally libelling an actual landowner. Not that I know any. Echo of Bells, by contrast, was a safer bet because it was set in a larger population centre. Aside from characters’ houses and the odd café or bookshop, no locations needed to be invented or renamed.
The letting of the guest house obviously needs to be advertised, so putting your tourist information hat on, how would you describe the cottage and the village?
Well, no spoilers, but anyone advertising Yew Tree Cottage for rent should choose their words with care. Pretty semi-detached cottage in idyllic village location. Fully renovated but retains many features of historic interest. Tenants to be advised, the landlord accepts no responsibility for any trauma experienced by those of a sensitive disposition.
I loved the mention of the starling murmuration on the Somerset Levels, I’m guessing you’ve experienced them too. Aren’t they just amazing?
I’ve only seen one in real life. It was breathtaking, though not as large as some that I’ve seen on TV, so I’m hoping to catch another.
Oh you really must, it’s an awesome sight and the noise is breathtaking.
I’ve never written crime fiction before; do you have to plan it meticulously before you start to write? Do you always know how the book is going to end and who the murderer is going to be?
I think everyone approaches this differently. Personally, I decide on the initial mystery (in Avalon Sky, a friend’s disappearance), and the historical mystery if applicable, plus the problems or challenges facing the main character(s). Then I start writing and see what happens. Characters often up-end my tentative plans, and a potential villain can insist on becoming an ally, but I usually know where the next three or four chapters are heading. I summarise each chapter very briefly on a spreadsheet as I go along. Once the first draft is finished, I do a complete rewrite, then keep editing until everything makes sense. That takes as long as the first draft.
I’m going to ask you – what is your favourite crime series on TV and why?
Line of Duty and Silent Witness are tied favourites: the first for the quality of the writing (I’m in awe of Jed Mercurio), and the second because I’m fascinated by forensics – although I’m far more squeamish about gruesome real-life situations.
Lissa and Kit first get involved in Echo of Bells. Was it fun bringing them back for Avalon Sky? Do you have more plans for them now that Kit is heading for a TV career in Bristol?
I wrote Avalon Sky with the idea of creating a crime thriller series, with Kit and Lissa (from Echo) as the main protagonists. They were still living in my head and I wanted to know where life would take them.
Since Echo of Bells is more of a romance thriller, I hadn’t intended to make that (retrospectively) Book 1 of The Pevensey Files, but family members persuaded me. This does make sense, as it’s the origin story for the series, and all of the books will have a strong focus on Kit’s and Lissa’s evolving relationship.
The Pevenseys’ next adventure is called Sunken Ground. I’ve completed the first draft and hope to have it ready this the autumn. This will be the first story centred on a (fictional) cold case featured in Kit’s TV series.
What made you decide to write in the first person, and from a male viewpoint?
Echo of Bells had been Lissa’s story, told in the first person from her viewpoint. In Avalon Sky, I wanted to show Kit’s journey, because by that point he is struggling with a heart-wrenching decision, that he knows will change the course of his and Lissa’s life. I actually wrote a few chapters in the third person, but it felt wrong. As soon as I scrapped that version and switched to first person narrative, I could immediately hear Kit’s voice.
One question, another writer asked me last year, was what was on my vision board for 2026? So, I thought it would be fun to ask all my guests this year if they would share one item on their board for 2026 – I might come back to you to later in the year and ask whether you achieved it! So what would be one item on yours?
Having strayed into self-publishing almost by accident, when I uploaded a revised edition of Echo of Bells onto Amazon to help promote Avalon Sky, I really liked the level of control this gave me. I’m therefore planning to self-publish Sunken Ground and hope to release it in October – in time for Christmas!
Thank you for stopping by today, Jill, to chat. And good luck with this book and I look forward to read the next! Anni x
Book Link: https://shorturl.at/EU3TM
Website: https://jilltoddnovelist.wixsite.com/books
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Anni Rose’s six uplifting and heartfelt romantic comedies are currently available from Amazon in one box set:
