Jiddy Vardy – Full Sail

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Book Launch and events

Robin Hood’s Bay Victorian Weekend

CANCELLED DUE TO ILLNESS – SINCERE APOLOGIES

Saturday 2nd December 12 noon & 2 pm – Smugglers Bar and Bistro, the Dock

Book launch of the final novel in the smuggling, coming of age trilogy set in Robin Hood’s Bay, Whitby, and York – place & inspiration, readings, Q&A, books for sale & signings

inspired by real life Robin Hood’s Bay female smuggler, Jiddy Vardy

Books can also be purchased at https://www.thehiggledypig.co.uk/

Historical Fiction

The Grove Bookshop, Ilkley, Yorkshire

Thursday 7th December, 7 pm – CANCELLED DUE TO RUTH BEING ON JURY SERVICE

Jiddy Vardy – Full Sail. Final novel in the smuggling, coming of age, historical trilogy

Launch talk about inspiration from Yorkshire books, people and places, Q&A, readings & signings

Inspired by real life Robin Hood’s Bay female smuggler, Jiddy Vardy

Relaxed and welcoming in this wonderful bookshop

https://www.grovebookshop.com/contact/

Historical Fiction

Wave of Nostalgia Bookshop, Haworth, Yorkshire

Wednesday 13th December, 7 pm

Jiddy Vardy – Full Sail. Final novel in the smuggling, coming of age, historical trilogy

Q&A, readings & signings

Inspired by real life Robin Hood’s Bay female smuggler, Jiddy Vardy

Tickets – £5 including glass of wine and 10% off all books

To book:

Historical Fiction

Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators private event

Saturday, 16th of December 2023

Following 10.30 – 12.30 critique group meetings at Manchester Metropolitan University

Details contact: estevez.9@gmail.com

Helen Lapping North West organiser asking the questions – readings, books available and signings. Q&A about the Jiddy Vardy trilogy.

Wine, soft drinks, and a delicious Yorkshire treat!

Jiddy Vardy Trilogy conclusion

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Book 3 in the smuggling trilogy – Jiddy Vardy – Full Sail

Release date: 2nd December 2023

Event at The Robin Hood’s Bay Victorian Weekend – Saturday, 2nd December 2023

Venue TBC

Beaten Track Publishing

Historical Fiction

Other events:

The Grove Bookshop, Ilkley, Yorkshire – Thursday, 7th December 2023 – 7pm – https://www.grovebookshop.com/

Book signings in various bookshops TBC

The Robin Hood’s Bay Victorian Weekend 2021

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Saturday, 4th December, 11 am and 2 pm at The Old School House, Robin Hood’s Bay

Pop by to chat, buy books, have them signed.

Books available: Jiddy Vardy, Jiddy Vardy – High Tide (2nd in the trilogy), Erosion and The Monster Belt

All set on the North Yorkshire Coast.

Jiddy Vardy is inspired by real life local female smuggler in Robin Hood’s Bay.

#UKteenchat

Tuesday 16th November 8 – 9 pm

Talking writing, location as character, Yorkshire as inspiration and about the Jiddy Vardy smuggling trilogy. Also my writing tips and answering any questions that pop up!

Jiddy Vardy Readings

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Trinity Times Newspaper – Ruth Estevez article July 2020

 

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Catch up on all 6 Jiddy Vardy Chapter Readings here:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=zuntold+jiddy+vardy

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Mondays, from 4th of May 2020, available from 5 pm on ZunTold’s Youtube channel.

I will be reading Chapters from Jiddy Vardy on publisher, ZunTold’s Youtube site each Monday from 4th of May.

Please come and join me and send me any questions or comments. Three chapters for now but if you want more, please let me or ZunTold know!

Jiddy Vardy – Chapter One

 

The use of dialect in novels

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My novels about a female smuggler in 18th century Robin Hood’s Bay, Yorkshire involve the use of dialect, not only in the dialogue, but also in the ‘narrator’s’ voice.

I have tried to give a ‘feel’ of this Yorkshire voice in the prose, through the use of ‘were’ instead of ‘was’ and dropping ‘the’ in various places.

Discussions have arisen from this during the critique session on a new Writers’ Course I am attending. All of these comments bar one come from reading the first 3,000 words of Jiddy Vardy – High Tide, the second book in the trilogy.

Some love it as it totally immerses them in 18th century Yorkshire.

Some would prefer it only used in the dialogue.

Some find it takes time to get used to it.

A German reader didn’t have a problem at all, even with words she didn’t understand. She got the sense from the context. Plus, as a non-YA reader, she wanted to read more and read the first book.

However, there are readers for and against…

Some quotes about the use of dialect in the dialogue and the prose:

‘They’re subtle yet really place the story firmly in Yorkshire.’

‘I actually really enjoyed the dialects and thought they worked well, I could get the feel of a working class conversation.’

‘The use of dialect and vernacular grammar works really in both the text and dialogue. It made me feel as though I was there and totally involved.’

‘I’ve never read anything like this in YA, with the dialect in the narration. Really felt part of the world. Though can see schools may have a problem with it.’

‘Written in dialect makes for difficult reading. Dialect is better implied if possible.’

‘I prefer dialect in the dialogue – in the direct speech – but not in the third person narrative.’

‘It would be very difficult as a parent to give this to my (12 year old) daughter to read and the use of ‘weren’t’ in the first lines would put me off purchasing this for her.’

Just as a pointer – Jiddy Vardy is aimed at 14+ – it is upper YA. Many YA readers are in their 20s.

I have thought that parents and schools may have a problem with the use of dialect in a YA book and teaching ‘bad’ habits. But isn’t the whole point of discussions at the moment about people seeing themselves in books? Well, what about HEARING themselves too? I want to hear the Yorkshire voice in books and not just as a parody and not just in the direct speech. As a teenager, I would have loved to hear myself as the voice behind the entire book. It would have made the idea of being a writer a real possibility for me.

Plus, it makes an excellent discussion in school workshops for the use of voice in a novel. Being heard. Being represented. I’m not talking about the characters, I’m talking about the narrative voice. Why can’t the narrator have a Yorkshire voice or any other regional voice for that matter? Why does it have to have any sense of place taken out of it? Or is it only certain narrative voices that are allowed to be heard? 

If it hasn’t been done before, or rarely, why not break out of the box and change the voice that is telling the story? This is the story of Yorkshire after all.

It’s one series of books. Will this really tarnish a young person’s grammar? From my experience, it’s being in a school environment that does this, not reading a book.

Jiddy Vardy cover