There’s always a feeling of relief when I finish a book and press the key which will send it whizzing off through the ether to my editor. When I first started writing sending a manuscript to my publisher involved traipsing down to the post office with a heavy parcel, weighing it and then paying a fortune in postage. Now the process couldn’t be simpler but there’s still the same feeling of euphoria and fear (until my editor gets back to me with his changes, of course, then the work starts again). I’ve got my fingers crossed that he’ll like The Boy Who Lived with the Dead, the second in my Albert Lincoln trilogy.
During the period between letting go of the book and having to work on it again, I always take the opportunity to write a short story or two and that’s what I’m doing at the moment. I’ve also started to plan my next Wesley novel but it’s far too early to say much about it yet as I’ve only just started working out plot strands (and doing some historical research into the diaries of Samuel Pepys and the medieval belief that the restless dead have to be prevented from ‘walking’ – enough said for the moment!).
Talking of short stories, I was delighted when mine was selected for the latest Crime Writers’ Association Anthology Mystery Tour. My story’s entitled The Naked Lady of Prague and is based on something I actually witnessed when I was visiting Prague a few years ago. I was having a meal outside in a little square with my husband and some friends when a woman appeared, prancing through the square without a stitch of clothing on (it even silenced a Welsh rugby club who were sitting on a table nearby!) I’ve no idea what she was doing there but in my story I’ve imagined a rather sinister story behind her escapade.
Since I last wrote this diary I’ve had the good fortune to visit several libraries including Poynton, West Kirby and York. At York I presented my murder mystery Death at the Dig and I must say the brave library staff who acted the parts with such aplomb deserved Oscars. It was great fun.
Wirral Bookfest at West Kirby Library
"Death At The Dig" York Library Big City Read