Friday 20 September 2013

It's been a roller coaster ride so far...

The last three years have been a roller coaster ride in the writing world. I've learnt more than I realised there was to learn, achieved a fair amount, made the odd mistake along the way... however, that's how most of find our feet in life so I'm not complaining. Here's a glimpse of the story so far....
 

 
Sometimes love can be a shortcut to heaven - literally!
A gift from the dead? Sophie Harris thinks so until her appointed handyman - the delectable Andy - unearths skeletons in the garden of her inherited new home.
Could a secret murderer lurk in her family tree?

Simultaneously the buried victims live on in their own time - 1930's - as their story breaths through Elise's diary. The touching love story twists through intrigue and heartfelt sympathy; but can happiness ever be theirs?
Delving into family secrets, Sophie finds herself at the mercy of a poisonous pen, her life threatened - just how far will they go to keep the truth hidden...?
Police efforts do nothing to dent the poison pen's composure and a plot to murder Sophie begins to take shape. With the truth inches from revelation, Sophie is left clutching at the jaws of death; but will the police arrive in time?
HS ISBN 9871 84963 0733

Published May 2011, I was quite literally leaping around the house with delight when this came out; my first published novel.  It was a day I'll never forget.

 One shot in the dark, and everything changes...  When Richard Burkett shoots his victim in 1935, and gets away with it, he doesn't expect to be
caught over seventy years later. The death of one man can affect so many lives...
Zoe Peterson is shocked to find two police detectives one being the captivating DC James Clark interviewing her grandparents about an unsolved murder.
Simultaneously Cathy and Stephen endure emotional turmoil in 1957. The revelation of her father's identity frightens Cathy.
Zoe is concerned about her father's health and her ex won't accept her ditching him; until James plants his size twelve's firmly into her life. Will finding the dying gunman and earning her grandparents' gratitude be enough for James to win Zoe's heart?
In 1957 someone is stalking Cathy, the shadows following her, the darkness choking her, until breaking point finds her in Stephen's arms and the awful secret is revealed. Wedded bliss could so easily be snatched away by terminal heartbreak.
A chance comment reminds James that the identity of the victim is more important than that of the murderer...
HS ISBN 9781849631761

October 2012 saw the release of 'Distant Shadows'. I was even more thrilled, if that's possible, when this second novel was published. This tale had resided in my writing files and my heart for almost ten years by the time it came to see the light of day.  The characters and the story long pre-dated those in 'Beneath The Daisies', but happened to emerge second.

Where we come from can change everything...  When a baby is snatched the famous parents keep the tragedy secret, but this doesn't prevent Joyce Capelli from searching, attracting trouble at every turn. An anonymous writer claims to know everything, but it will cost Joyce more than she realises. When a shot is fired all she finds is an open window, and a room of photographs.
In the modern day Rebecca Houseman finds herself widowed, suffering persistent dreams, and threatened. What she doesn't know is why. When the unconventional DCI Allen says her husband's apparent natural causes was in fact murder, she wonders what he was trying to tell her in his final breath.
A stranger is watching the Houseman family, an unsettling familiarity that could change everything. As the attempts grow increasingly deadly, the inspector strives to solve the case, but can he crack the mystery before the assassin finds Rebecca?
Meanwhile, in the 1960s, Joyce's delight at finding her baby is tragically short lived. What could ink Rebecca Houseman and the young dancer's missing baby all those years ago?
HS ISBN 9781849633291
In approximately six weeks time my third novel will be released from the publishers presses. This third novel represents a whole wealth of personal subject knowledge and passion, so I'm ever keen that readers enjoy it.  The mystery is more complex in some ways, and simpler in others, but you'll have to read it to find out what I mean! There is plenty of edge of your seat action, which I hope you'll enjoy!

Thursday 19 September 2013

Fitting it all in....

Do you ever feel as if you're running against the clock?

 I often find myself dashing from one task to the next and trying to cram the day with as much as possible... it's quite a challenge. Many of you are nodding along to this... yes, I know, it's a common feeling.
 
When I was a very young student I had four jobs and two separate study timetables, spread over a 30-mile radius. At the time I used my driving lessons as a means of getting myself from one point to another, as well as the train, the good old-fashioned bicycle and of course the daily sprint; dodging other people in the mad dash through the city centre.
 
I must have been mad... fit certainly, but when I look back at this crazy period in my life, I realise it is probably to thank for having taught me the skill of time management.  To this day, I think about the order I do things in. For example, switch on the washing machine first, then clean the house, and by the time the cleaning is done, the washing is probably ready to hang out.  A very simple example of course, and one which most people have probably adopted without having dashed across the lands to have learnt! However, if you take this principle and expand on it, you'll find you can fit a whole lot more into your day.
 
Having filled the days now to maximum capacity, I often find the only solution left is to get up ever earlier... but I must confess that I think I have now reached my limit, and increasingly find myself struggling to rise when the alarm clocks jolts me into wakefulness.  Perhaps it is time for another review of the situation... So long as you can keep going then do just that, and fill your life with as much as you can. It's my only method of keeping up with the demands of every day life whilst managing to 'have a life' at the same time. Does anyone else feel the same?
 
The only problem then left to fix is how to deal with being completely shattered at the end of it!