Christmas cards and books

I usually prepare a blog post ready for publication on a Sunday afternoon but the past few weeks have been manic. Part of the reason was ensuring my latest book ‘Angel in disguise’ was available in time for orders to be placed from the continent, where the band had a large following, and could reach …

Book release – Angel in disguise

It’s funny how things work out. When I was about 17, I got to know a local group called ‘The Wild Angels.’ One of their first gigs was in a bikers’ café in Biggin Hill, not far from the airfield. My old friend Mitch Mitchell died a couple of years ago, but often spoke about …

Christmas – More memories

It was traditional for all the family to go to our parent’s house for dinner on Christmas day, but once I had my own place Boxing Day became ‘Chez moi.’ As more and more people stopped having a traditional lunch on Christmas day, I decided to serve turkey with all the trimmings, Christmas pudding, mince …

Author spotlight

First a quick shout out to congratulate Paula Harmon and Liz Hedgecock on the release of their latest book Murder at Midnight. It’s available on Amazon here:https://www.amazon.co.uk/Murder-Midnight-Booker-Fitch-Mysteries-ebook/dp/B0BPCV44N4/ Nest we continue the Book Festival author spotlight featuring ~Christopher Bowden, Alice Castle and Lynne Milford A total change from last week’s children’s authors, the spotlight this week …

Locking up Part 2

Continuing the short story from last week. I hope you're enjoying it. It took nearly a year for the cracks to begin to show. At first Pam had taken to locking the door to the office where she kept all her private papers, but as time went on she realised it was rather rude and …

Locking Up Part 1

With Halloween fast approaching I’m working on a new book of short stories appropriate for the season. Whether I’ll meet the deadline or not remains to be seen, but it was great fun looking through my half-finished collection, and discovering other stories I can use for my blog. This was one of the more recent …

Christmas Val’s Tales and The Stars Will Shine Again

Christmas is a time for giving, whether it be donating to the annual collection for your favourite charity or a small gift for a friend. It’s also a time for sharing, whether it’s the washing up after a traditional meal, the children playing together or the joy of a new addition to the family. As …

Links and catch-ups

A lot has been happening this week. I was delighted to be featured as a guest on ‘Lost Books of Lockdown.’ It’s the first time I’ve done an online video so it was quite scary but Nikki Vallance was a delightful host, and I enjoyed every minute we were chatting. Shame about the 'lockdown look' …

The history behind ‘Alderslay.’

I started writing this story about seven or eight years ago, and it was intended to be the follow-up to my first book ‘Changes.’ Although Changes was a romance, (since republished as ‘Summer Changes, Winter Tears,’) I wanted to try a darker genre and ‘Murder of Changes,’ as it was originally known, is more of …

Interview re Alderslay background

Shortly before I went into hospital, friend and fellow author Paula Harmon interviewed me about the background to my latest book release. As ‘Alderslay’ had a long time gap between first draft and publication, it was interesting to remember the circumstances concerning some of the events, and even the reason for the change of name …