Avalon Sky – Guest Post from Jill Todd

FLIGHT OF FANCY
When I began writing Avalon Sky, my two main characters were eagerly awaiting their cue. Kit and Lissa had first appeared in my romance thriller Echo of Bells, and had been alive in my head ever since. Refusing to accept that they were imaginary, they were itching to show me where life would take them.

The supporting characters needed more time to materialise, but I drew two of them from real life: a cuddly toy named Soft Brown Dog, and a little two-seater aircraft called a Jabiru. My fictional Jabiru played a smallish but vital role in Avalon Sky. This is the story of the real one.

When I first met Pete, he owned a share in a microlight motor-glider, and claimed that belonging to a five-person syndicate made flying as affordable as smoking 20 cigarettes a day. Neither of us smoked, but I took his word for it – and married him. I admire adventurous types, not being one myself.

As a nervous passenger, I’ve flown with Pete many times. The motor-glider allowed us to reach beauty spots like South Devon or the Isle of Wight, though only marginally faster than by car. The aircraft’s engine was rather feeble, but never seriously let us down.

Our son Mark was born in November 1997, and spending time around planes and in airfield cafés quickly became his ‘normal’. The putter and throb of propeller engines were the soundtrack to his young life.

In 2000, every member of our syndicate entered a competition in Flyer magazine. The prize was a Jabiru microlight, a faster and more powerful aircraft than the motor-glider.

Each of the five men was fired by the dream of owning his own plane, with no capital outlay. The prize would be delivered in kit form, but the friends were unfazed. They were a capable lot. Besides, none of them expected to win. It was a bit of fun, like buying a lottery ticket.

Throughout 2000, every edition of Flyer contained a different, aviation-related question – alongside a photo of the prize, built and ready to fly.

‘Look at this, Mark!’ Pete would say. ‘This is the plane we might win.’

‘Don’t tell him that!’ I pleaded.
Pete duly toned down the optimism; but each month, Mark would look through the latest issue of Flyer with his dad, and gaze in wonder at the prize. He had not yet been allowed to fly beside Pete. The motor-glider had dual controls, so he needed to be old enough not to fiddle, but the wait hadn’t dimmed his enthusiasm.

December came – and Pete and two other syndicate members had made the shortlist of fifty hopefuls. As a tie-breaker, each of them was asked to write a short essay on why they, as individuals, deserved to win.

It was unclear where Pete would build the plane, if he did win. As a mechanically-minded person, he had filled our garage with essential items (several of them a mystery to me), which really couldn’t live anywhere else. Still, he only had a one in fifty chance. If it happened, some of his treasures would have to go.

But he didn’t win.

Colin, one of the other syndicate members, did. Even more amazingly, he had pledged to share the prize with his four fellow pilots – a generous impulse, which might have swayed the judges in his favour.

A second stroke of luck followed. Ian, another member of the group, had been saving to buy his own aircraft kit when he retired, and had prepared his large, detached garage accordingly.

In March 2001, the Jabiru was delivered there. The fuselage came in two halves, and the wings were pre-formed, with hundreds of parts vacuum-sealed to sheets of card. These sheets, sorted into logical order, soon covered the two long walls of Ian’s garage.

Building the plane took three years, plus the combined efforts, skills and patience of every member of the team – with occasional encouragement from Mark, of course.

In March 2004, at Old Sarum Airfield, a test pilot took the Jabiru for its first flight. We all watched, hardly breathing, as the aircraft taxied to the runway threshold.

We needn’t have worried. The thousands of man-hours, the setbacks, the heart-stopping moment when the fuselage came together… it had all been worthwhile.

The Jabiru – our Jabiru – climbed effortlessly into the waiting sky.

Jill Todd

Giveaway to Win an Avalon Sky prize bundle including clotted cream fudge and shortbread (Open to UK Only).

Prize includes:
Avalon Sky – paperback
Echo of Bells – paperback (my romance thriller, which became the origin story for Kit and Lissa’s relationship)
2 double-sided bookmarks – i.e. one for each book
1 box of clotted cream fudge
1 box of clotted cream shortbread selection
1 Lundy Island keyring

*Terms and Conditions – UK entries welcome.
Please enter using the Gleam link below. The winner will be selected at random via Gleam from all valid entries and will be notified by Twitter and/or email. If no response is received within 7 days then Rachel’s Random Resources reserves the right to select an alternative winner.
Open to all entrants aged 18 or over. Any personal data given as part of the competition entry is used for this purpose only and will not be shared with third parties, with the exception of the winners’ information. This will passed to the giveaway organiser and used only for fulfilment of the prize, after which time Rachel’s Random Resources will delete the data. I am not responsible for despatch or delivery of the prize.

https://gleam.io/CGEKB/win-an-avalon-sky-prize-bundle-including-clotted-cream-fudge-and-shortbread-open-to-uk-only

Blurb:
Some secrets should never be told.
Some crimes should never be forgiven.

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.

Author Bio:
Jill Todd was born in Eastleigh, Hampshire. Her parents taught her to read and write at an early age, to occupy her during a long illness, and she has been writing stories ever since.

After completing a historical novel, published in 1988, she rediscovered a social life, married and had a family. Whilst working as an Admin Assistant at a local secondary school, she continued to write as a hobby.

Her romance thriller, Echo of Bells, was published in 2016 and became the origin story for Avalon Sky.

Since retiring in 2023, she has been able to write full-time, and plans to make Avalon Sky the first in a series of crime thrillers featuring Kit and Lissa Pevensey.
In 2001, 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 (or a fifth share of it) 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 Jill’s favourite places.

Social Media Links:
Facebook: @JillToddauthor
Instagram: @jilltoddauthor

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