During the past month I’ve been working on 2018’s Wesley Peterson mystery. I’ve completed the first draft but I won’t say too much about it yet as I still need to spend months polishing it into shape. It’s early days but I can reveal that it’s mainly set on Dartmoor and features a sixteenth century robot! However, enough of that for now as THE HOUSE OF EYES hasn’t been out that long and there’ll be another Wesley Peterson novel published in February (entitled THE MERMAID’S SCREAM)
Since I last wrote this diary I’ve spoken at Ashton Libraries Fun Palaces Day (where I met a bee keeper who gave me a brilliant idea for a murder method) and a few days later I visited Chester Lane Library in St Helens. Many thanks to the brilliant library staff who helped to organise the events. In fact I’ve dedicated The Mermaid’s Scream to all library staff everywhere. Libraries really need and deserve our support.
At St Helens Library
Last week I had a break from writing and travelled to Spain to visit Seville, Cordoba and Granada. It’s strange the way memories are triggered – in the Alhambra at Granada (the most spectacular Moorish palace you could ever imagine) I couldn’t help remembering a trilogy of novels I’d absolutely loved as a teenager – Jean Plaidy’s Castile for Isabella, Spain for the Sovereigns and Daughters of Spain – all about Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain and their daughters (in particular Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII, and her sister, Juana the Mad). Catherine herself played in the stunning gardens of the Alhambra and she was to recall this happy time during her later troubles, something I found incredibly touching. As well as this I was awed to find myself in the very room where Queen Isabella had presented Christopher Columbus with the money that enabled him to discover America. The trip culminated in a visit to the chapel where Ferdinand, Isabella and Juana were buried, along with Juana’s husband Philip the Handsome. After Philip’s death Juana carried his coffin around with her everywhere she went...a juicy fact bound to appeal to a teenage girl who was later to become a crime writer!
La Alhambra
So now it’s back to work but there’s still one major event to mention. I am delighted to be launching A HIGH MORTALITY OF DOVES on Tuesday 15th November at 7.30 at Simply Books, an award winning independent bookshop in Bramhall near Stockport, Cheshire. It’s a free event so do come along if you can (but email the bookshop first so they know how many people to expect). I’m really excited about A HIGH MORTALITY OF DOVES and I hope my readers will be too. It would be wonderful to see you at the launch. http://www.simplybooks.info/headline-events/4587367589